So, I’m pretty sure Dr. Google has diagnosed me with priformis. I noticed the pain for the first time after my IM in November and it really only hurts on the bike. It is on my short leg (2 cm?) and I’m wondering if shoring up that cleat somehow would help and if so, how would one go about doing that? TIA! I searched on priformis only very old threads (2007) appeared.
I think dr google may well be wrong. I think you mean Piriformis and to this, perhaps piriformis syndrome? Try searching for that on this forum and google and there are lots of helpful hits.
Thanks
I had piriformis tightness that was bad, pressed on my sciatic nerve and caused pain all the way from my lower back to top of my foot. Totally fine now as long as I stretch. First, take the maximum dose of ibuprofen for a few days to calm the inflammation, google “piriformis stretches” (there’s one of a guy in a hotel room that shows good stretches).
How do you know one of your legs is shorter? When I went to PT for this issue, they told me that my legs didn’t totally line up. They diagnosed it by having me lay down, then held my ankles while I sat straight up. Then one of the legs would appear to be shorter than the other. Apparently it was due to a hip weakness on that side. The exercises they gave me to fix it went like this: Lay on your back and pull your knees up (like you’re going to do oblique crunches). Tighten the quad on the short side, while pushing against that knee (you are providing resistance for the leg). On the other side, tighten the hamstring, while you pull that leg toward you. Hold for 10 sec, do 3 sets of 10 twice a day. Its a little tricky at first- every limb is doing something different. I guess within a month my hips and legs were fine, but they were only slightly off to begin with. Now I just do it every once in a while, although there’s no way for me to really tell if my hips/legs are where they’re supposed to be.
HTH, and good luck!
Hi Kathy 
Sorry to hear about your pain.
I haven’t had piriformis syndrome, but I have had clients who have had it, and it can be really painful. I do have a leg that is shorter than the other, and it resulted in some saddle discomfort and power loss on my shorter (and non dominant) leg. My bike fitter put a spacer between my cleat and my shoe, and it helped a ton. The larger foam rollers can be helpful for self-massage, and there are some good stretches on line.
Hope it resolves quickly.
I was having priformis problems for a bit last spring… I switched to a narrower bike seat and backed off for a week or two. Hasn’t bothered me since.
I had piriformis tightness that was bad, pressed on my sciatic nerve and caused pain all the way from my lower back to top of my foot. Totally fine now as long as I stretch. First, take the maximum dose of ibuprofen for a few days to calm the inflammation, google “piriformis stretches” (there’s one of a guy in a hotel room that shows good stretches).
How do you know one of your legs is shorter? When I went to PT for this issue, they told me that my legs didn’t totally line up. They diagnosed it by having me lay down, then held my ankles while I sat straight up. Then one of the legs would appear to be shorter than the other. Apparently it was due to a hip weakness on that side. The exercises they gave me to fix it went like this: Lay on your back and pull your knees up (like you’re going to do oblique crunches). Tighten the quad on the short side, while pushing against that knee (you are providing resistance for the leg). On the other side, tighten the hamstring, while you pull that leg toward you. Hold for 10 sec, do 3 sets of 10 twice a day. Its a little tricky at first- every limb is doing something different. I guess within a month my hips and legs were fine, but they were only slightly off to begin with. Now I just do it every once in a while, although there’s no way for me to really tell if my hips/legs are where they’re supposed to be.
HTH, and good luck!
i have scoliosis and as a kid a doc took an xray of my body (thorax?) and measured the difference via xray. I don’t remember if it was 2, 3 or 4cm but it is substantial. I’ll try your exercise. thanks!
Hi Kathy
Sorry to hear about your pain.
I haven’t had piriformis syndrome, but I have had clients who have had it, and it can be really painful. I do have a leg that is shorter than the other, and it resulted in some saddle discomfort and power loss on my shorter (and non dominant) leg. My bike fitter put a spacer between my cleat and my shoe, and it helped a ton. The larger foam rollers can be helpful for self-massage, and there are some good stretches on line.
Hope it resolves quickly.
i totally forgot about the roller - thanks for that. I’ll have to google a spacer and see what that might entail. In my running shoes I use a lift and I think that’s why no issues running.
I think dr google may well be wrong. I think you mean Piriformis and to this, perhaps piriformis syndrome? Try searching for that on this forum and google and there are lots of helpful hits.
Thanks
ah. thanks. i’ll try that. right now I’m looking for specific information on how to adjust my one bike shoe to shore up that side. I have a lift I use in my running shoe but cant figure out what to do with the bike shoe.
Hi Kathy
Sorry to hear about your pain.
I haven’t had piriformis syndrome, but I have had clients who have had it, and it can be really painful. I do have a leg that is shorter than the other, and it resulted in some saddle discomfort and power loss on my shorter (and non dominant) leg. My bike fitter put a spacer between my cleat and my shoe, and it helped a ton. The larger foam rollers can be helpful for self-massage, and there are some good stretches on line.
Hope it resolves quickly.
i totally forgot about the roller - thanks for that. I’ll have to google a spacer and see what that might entail. In my running shoes I use a lift and I think that’s why no issues running.
The foam roller will help a bit but you must stretch the heck out of it daily. I will hurt but not like the pain you are dealing with on a daily basis. Also try stretching in the water, it helped me at times when I was in your shoes.
I agree with the foam roller recommendation. I have owned a personal training studio for 20 years and dealt with many cases of piriformis syndrome; the foam roller has been the most effective tool I’ve seen. Finding an Active Release Therapist (A.R.T.) could also prove extremely valuable. I would YouTube foam roller piriformis syndrome; you will find many useful videos.